Search OMPP:

Search for:

[ x ] Close [ x ]

The Rosie Effect

by Graeme Simsion

” ‘To the world’s most perfect woman.’ It was lucky my father was not present. Perfect is an absolute that cannot be modified, like unique or pregnant. My love for Rosie was so powerful that it had caused my brain to make a grammatical error.”

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Rating is : 6

Graeme Simsion's

The Rosie Effect

” ‘To the world’s most perfect woman.’ It was lucky my father was not present. Perfect is an absolute that cannot be modified, like unique or pregnant. My love for Rosie was so powerful that it had caused my brain to make a grammatical error.”

“He introduced himself to the class as Jack, and explained that he had been a member of a motorcycle club, had spent time in jail, and at one time had a bad attitude to women. It was quite a long speech but omitted some important information. I assumed he was being modest. When he asked if anyone had questions, I raised my hand. ‘What are your professional qualifications?’ He laughed. ‘The university of life. The school of hard knocks.’ I would have liked more information as to the disciplines, but did not want to dominate question time.”

“Rain Man! I had seen the film. I did not identify in any way with Rain Man, who was inarticulate, dependent and unemployable. A society of Rain Men would be dysfunctional. A society of Don Tillmans would be efficient, safe, and pleasant for all of us.”

One Million Page Princess

November 2nd 2014

After a long hiatus away from the blog, (not from reading of course) I am finally back! As we’re all well aware, sometimes life throws a curveball or two at you, and the path you were previously on somehow no longer seems to look all that appealing. The once clear road ahead of us becomes overgrown, uncertain, or simply diverts completely. I had one of those curveballs thrown at me, and chose to spend the majority of my free time outside running, and using that quiet time in my head to reflect, not being on top of my book reviews or blog. For that, I apologize. Fortunately I feel as though I’ve reached a place of calm and acceptance in my life again, (duh! How could I forget!? It’s all unfolding as it’s supposed to people!) and I feel like this second instalment into Don Tillman’s life came along at exactly the right time. I found myself only wanting to read a few pages at a time to really savour the next chapter in his life: fatherhood.

While I did of course find myself laughing out loud in many public places at the absolutely hysterical and brilliant way Don’s Aspergers mind works sometimes, and of course loved how this crazy but loveable man always somehow manages to make things work out, this book felt much heavier and more serious than the first. Additionally, Rosie and Don’s relationship really seemed to take a hit, as I can only assume all relationships do when the possibility of an unplanned pregnancy becomes a reality. In fact, I really didn’t like Rosie for the majority of this book, at all. She felt like a completely different character, devoid of that beautiful unconditional spark that allowed her and Don to work in the first place.

Perhaps it was because I was dealing with my own love lost when I first started reading this book that it made it much harder to get through, or maybe I somehow missed something monumental, but the unfortunate truth is that I don’t think the sequel was nearly as good as the first. Then again, are they ever?

This book is still lovely, and so much better than a lot of the garbage that’s out there right now, but be warned that this guy is lacking a bit of that ‘je ne sais quoi magic’ that the initial boy meets girl story had.

About

I love to read. I always have. When I was a toddler I was most at peace walking up and down the aisles of book stores or libraries, and would throw tantrums that involved violent kicking and painful sobs when my parents dragged me out. That was before I even knew the alphabet.